Sam Presti and the Thunder agree to multi-year extension

Clay Bennett announced via a release the Thunder and Sam Presti have agreed on a multi-year extension. Terms were not released.

Bennett said: “We are fortunate to have Sam leading our basketball organization. He is extremely committed to the growth of our franchise, of our players, and this community. He has helped build an identity for this organization that we can all be proud of. I look forward to our continued work together as we experience the challenges of creating sustainable success.”

Presti’s comments: “I am extremely humbled to have the opportunity to continue our work here with the Thunder. Oklahoma City is home for me. We have a committed group of players, excellent coaches led by Scott Brooks, and a support staff in both basketball and business, that is integral to the vision of our organization and I am grateful for their partnership. I would also like to thank Clay for his support and trust. He has been central and unwavering in our efforts to build, enhance and sustain an elite franchise. We are fortunate to work with such a committed ownership group.”

Everyone praises the Thunder organization for making great decisions and doing things right, but it’s honestly not hard when there are great people place that do their jobs better than everyone else. It doesn’t take a lot of brilliance to sign KD to a long-term extension deal or Presti to a multi-year contract. Heck, I think I could even do that. Hey, wait a minute. There’s an opening in the front office RIGHT NOW.

"Quiet or not, he is going to be the designated scorer. Schuhmann noted that in a late scrimmage against top college players, Durant destroyed them.

Durant said afterward that he's been holding back a little offensively, but for that last 10 minutes, the staff told him to be more aggressive. And he clearly was, scoring 14 of his team's 26 points, and also dishing out two assists.

Six of the points came on catch-and-shoot threes. Two came on a pull-up, foul-line jumper off a curl screen. And the other six came at the free throw line after aggressive drives into the paint."

You could expand with Okafor going to OKC and Collison+Kristic going to NO (giving them more salary cap relief). This also works in the trade machine.

Why NO does it: gets a young All-Star in Granger, two future picks, and a ton of salary cap relief.

Why OKC does it: Will end up with 2 of the top 6 players in the NBA (Durant and Paul) to compete with the Miami 3 - plus a lineup of Paul, Harden, Durant, Ibaka, Aldrich sound pretty good with Okafor, Thabo, and Maynor also on the team (a pretty solid top 8).

Why Indy does it: Gets a young dynamic point guard which they desperately need plus a solid Green (at his natural position) to pick up a good part of what they lost in Granger.

@PNTI'm talking about then flipping Granger as part of a package to NO for Paul...since they may not really want a PG back since they had Collison. Sorry if that wasn't clear...more of an extension of the conversation I was having with Sammy and others.

Why it works...NOLA gets an all-star (Wallace) and talented young player (Green), plus huge savings by dumping Okafor in exchange for Dampier's non-guaranteed contract.

OKC upgrades to Paul at the excess cost of Green and two first rounders.

Charlotte gets their PG of the future, a Larry Brown caliber player who can learn lockdown defense and grind it out offense in exchange for Wallace, who is injury-prone. Further, they get back Okafor, who was much better in Charlotte in exchange for an otherwise unlikely to play player.

Why it doesn't work...NOLA gets two players who may play the same position. Getting rid of both Okafor and Aldrich leaves a huge hole at C.

OKC gives up two of the faces of it's current franchise for a guy who may be injury prone and who can leave in two years.

Charlotte may think they can get more out of their players in a trade - honestly I don't see it, though.

Does anyone else find it extremely stupid for a guy without a no-trade clause, who is still under contract for two more years, to be making trade demands to specific teams? I mean, New York doesn't have anything to trade. Their best player doesn't play defense, they have no first rounders, and their young guy in training is nothing more than a three point specialist. There isn't a way in hell that NOLA would trade Paul for the scraps New York has. Does Paul not get that?

@SammyAgreed...though Indiana is the kind of team I'd look to for a 3-way trade. They are not giving up nearly enough for Westbrook in the proposed trade. If they would consider Granger for Westbrook, now we're talking.

@SammyAll the more reason not to trade him. He's worth more to the Hornets now than they can get in a trade, more than ever. If Paul really wants out, he'll put on a happy face, tell the organization that he's going to tear it up until the trade deadline, but demand to be traded by then or he sits. Putting on a smile and tearing it up puts his value back where it should be, and gives NOLA a chance to recoup some solid players.

Why would NOLA even entertain trades that do not involve dumping Okafor? Why is NOLA entertaining trades at all when Paul has two years left on his contract. If they are going to trade him, they might as well just wait for the trade deadline in 2012. Paul isn't going to be worth less then than he is now (in the wake of trade demands). Further, get as much money out of your stars while you have them. Nobody is going to hurricane alley to watch Darren Collison and Emeka Okafor.

Unless NOLA is getting back a player who can excite the fanbase, there's no point in trading Paul any time soon. And in that regard, Westbrook is much more valuable than Oden (currently a bust since he never plays) or Batum (majority of fans don't care about defense).

@KivmanI think we're on the same page the package I was thinking of was RW + (JG or JH or SI) + NC + NK + filler, picks. Here's the thing about Oden: right now, Oden is a fantastic commodity for a team like NO because he’s low-risk, high-upside. If Oden can't stay healthy, then oh well, time to clear cap space and rebuild; if he works out, then you pay the man because he's worth it. A healthy producing Oden is worth more than any of our players and by quite a bit.

@SammyRight. Westbrook > Oden, Batum. Oden, Batum > Harden, Green. So Westbrook+Green/Harden isn't that different than Oden+Batum. Sure...OKC may need to add a little more, but it's not like they are different ballparks. Add picks, more immediate salary relief, etc. as needed. As a GM I'd be really concerned about the health of Oden. Perhaps you and I feel differently regarding that risk.

@KivmanYeah, I didn't mean RW + JG + JH.... I meant that RW + JG + NK + NC might not be enough so you might have to sub Ibaka or Harden in for one of those pieces. I think you're underrating Batum and Oden by quite a bit. Besides Westbrook, Durant, and maybe Ibaka (it's debatable), Batum and Oden are both more desirable than anyone on our roster.

Salaries don’t match. I think the baseline is Westbrook, Green, Krstic, Collison. But if that PDX deal is really on the table, I think you’d have to include Harden or Ibaka.

I don't know. That seems like way more than what PDX if offering. Westbrook is better than Batum or Oden (because of injury concerns in Oden't case). Green + Harden/Ibaka blows Batum away. I say you can up our offer in other ways: first round picks, REPLACE Harden for Green, add Thabo, etc. Plus...they can get more immediate salary cap relief from the Thunder (though I suppose the Blazers could structure this as multiple deals and add multiple $3 million kickers).

@SammyI'm from the Pacific NW so no arguments from me. I go back to the question regarding Paul in OKC before...I thought he enjoyed the time here. I don't buy the Paul Allen thing since he's allowed the front office to get messed up (nothing against Cho) and there's no proof that OKC won't spend (they did just re-up Durant so that should give Paul a lot of comfort). If he wants to win then OKC should be on the list.

I think Chris Paul needs his own thread. Why isn't OKC on his list? Didn't he like it here? Wouldn't him and Durant make a great duo? Why Portland and not OKC (this one has me really stumped)??? Couldn't the Thunder provide the Hornets more IMMEDIATE salary relief than the Magic, Knicks, Trailblazers, etc. etc. (i.e., they are over the cap so they basically need to trade back almost equal salary)? Westbrook + Green plus 2 1sts (ours next year plus the Clips) plus taking back some of the Hornets unwanted salary? Paul+Durant+Harden+Ibaka+Aldrich could be awesome.

When we added Ivey, some here wondered if that signing might mean a trade was afoot. Completely wild assed speculation on my part, but I wonder if it might be possible to put a deal together to land Marc Gasol. He is in the last year of his contract, with nothing I can find to indicate that an extension is in the works. This being the Grizzlies, I would not be suprised to learn that he has privately told them he would rather have a sex change operation than sign an extension with Memphis. Also, Memphis has been semi-desperately seeking a new PG. Finally, they are on the hook for Thabeet's 2nd pick in the draft scale salary, and have another semi-promising center under contract in Mahimi(sp?). I wonder if Maynor and some combination of White, Mullens and future picks could be enough to get a sign and trade for Gasol.

@f5alconThey aren't selling tickets anyway, and if it's apparent you can't improve the team to the point where Paul's gonna stay in two years, it makes sense to move him for the best talent and assets you can get.